(WXYZ) — James Niswender says he raised his granddaughter Julia Niswender for close to half her life.
“It’s been 9 and a half years now since I lost Julia. She was like a daughter to me, because the first 11 years that she was alive, I was her legal guardian," said James.
Julia's life was cut short in December 2012. The Eastern Michigan University student was found murdered in her off-campus apartment in Ypsilanti.
To this day, her case remains unsolved. Over the years, it went cold.
“It’s been so long now. The person that did this may already be dead," said James.
James is speaking to the challenge of matching DNA evidence.
He says he's turned to the Cold Case Foundation, which he’s been in contact with for about a year now, depending on their investigators to assist and help crack the case.
“A set of new eyes can make a big difference,” said James. However, he says the foundation is stalled in its efforts.
“They kind of run up against a brick wall so to speak, because they've tried to contact the Ypsi police department and Ypsi won’t even respond back to them. They can’t go any further without cooperation from the Ypsi police department,” said James.
Dan DiBardino, president of Crime Stoppers of Michigan, says even with access to the case file, the foundation may still be at an impasse.
“I have not seen many times where that particular review has moved a case forward where some kind of an arrest was generated above and beyond what the law enforcement agency was doing on that particular case," said DiBardino.
But James isn’t giving up.
“I just hope and pray that Ypsilanti would open up a little bit. Are they afraid to admit that they failed?” asked James. "Me and my whole family are just looking for results.”
